Push to take water from the bush for cities

Tlhe Australian

Rick Wallace and Matthew Warren
October 14, 2006
THE states have condemned the federal Government for stalling key water projects as they face growing pressure to buy water from farmers to top up city supplies.

Amid rising tensions over what has been labelled one of the worst droughts in the nation's history, state leaders lashed out at suggestions in the commonwealth's first national water audit that they had "failed" in key areas of water reform.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie accused the Howard Government of "political bastardry", saying it had disributed only "piddly amounts" of cash for water reform and had leaked the audit findings to The Australian in a bid to embarrass the premiers ahead of a meeting of Labor leaders yesterday.

But the states face a new pressure point after Australia's foremost water expert, Peter Cullen, told The Weekend Australian it was inevitable irrigators would have to give up water to supply cities as climate change reduced stream flows in urban catchments.

"There will be trade of water from rural users to urban users," Professor Cullen said. "I mean, rural people are using 75 per cent of the water we take out of our rivers across Australia, urbans are using 10 or 12 per cent.

"If urbans take an extra 1 or 2 per cent, I think that won't have a huge impact on the countryside but it's probably going to be necessary to sustain some of our cities."

His comments come amid tough new water restrictions in Adelaide and Brisbane and the prospect of a ban on watering of lawns in Melbourne.

Professor Cullen, a key architect of federal and Victorian water policy, said Victoria's Bracks Government would have to rethink its ban on buying water from irrigators, such as citrus fruit and rice growers, to supplement Melbourne's supply.

"The (Bracks) Government have signed the National Water Initiative, which does have as one of its principles that there will be that free trading between agricultural users and urban users," he said.

"The urban pressures are going to continue to be strong and governments aren't going to let a city run out of water. So you have got two options - you can buy it or you can take it and I think the farmers would prefer it was bought."

But state leaders speaking at a meeting of premiers in Melbourne yesterday - with the exception of West Australian leader Alan Carpenter - declined to commit to buying additional water from irrigators for their capitals.

"That's certainly not our plan," Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said. "I agree with NSW and the other states on this matter, as we look around the metropolitan area there is water from stormwater, from recycling, from treatment plants, which can be reused and replace drinking water that can be freed up for our growing populations."

So far, NSW and Victoria are pursuing policies of quelling demand through restrictions and advertising campaigns to reduce water use, as well as investing in recycling.

Queensland has announced plans to build two major dams to create a water grid to supply its southeast.

John Howard yesterday questioned NSW's opposition to new dams. "I mean, I grew up in Sydney and I've got to say the failure to build dams in NSW over the last 10 or 20 years has been scandalous," he said.

Western Australia is buying water freed up by transforming an open-ditch irrigation scheme to help supply Perth, as well as building a desalination plant.

Professor Cullen, who is a commissioner of the National Water Commission and the chairman of the Victorian Water Trust Advisory Council, said water entitlements had been a "huge free kick" for farmers and there was no reason they should be prevented from selling them.

"There are other people who want access to that water who might be prepared to pay more for it and if you can get more money for selling your water than splashing it on grass to grow hay then what's wrong with a farmer selling his water?" he said.

"The whole idea of giving farmers these rights was allowing water to move to higher-value uses. Why should urban people be any different in their needs to a vegetable crop?"

Speaking at the inaugural Council for Australian Federation meeting in Melbourne yesterday, the premiers dismissed claims they were failing on water, saying the commonwealth was holding up reform by delaying approval of state water recycling projects submitted to the $2billion National Water Initiative.

Mr Bracks said the states had met demands to submit large projects for consideration but no funding had been approved.

"At the last COAG (Council of Australian Governments) meeting we actually raised the need for speedier action on the National Water Initiative," he said.

"We said we should submit one big project for each state and the Prime Minister, to his credit, picked it up. We agreed to get them in, we've got them in and we are waiting for funding."

Mr Beattie blamed the commonwealth for playing politics.

"In that fund there is over $2billion of commonwealth money. All we have had all so far are piddly amounts."

And South Australian Premier Mike Rann said: "All of us have put in submissions for the funding of major projects under the National Water Initiative and obviously what we want to see is a speeding up of that process."

Mr Howard said yesterday his preference was still to co-operate with the states rather than take over control of water reform.